Womb to Bloom - Maternity & Beyond

My twins read Harry Potter books at four months. They’re baby geniuses. Okay, that’s not true. But I did read Harry Potter books to them at four months. I’m a book fiend. My fondest childhood memories are combing the stacks of our small local public library every Friday evening after dinner – my family’s traditional end-of-the-week activity. I remember regularly negotiating with my mother over the number of books I could check out each week. So, reading to my kids is very important to me.

The pediatricians apparently agree. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends reading to your children every day, beginning at six months of age. They believe that reading is important for the development of their language skills. I personally think that it is also important for the development of their attention capabilities and for their relationship with you. It’s just the most wonderful feeling in the world to have that little person snuggled up to you, listening to your words and exploring the pictures in a book. Hopefully, you’re instilling a love of reading in that growing little brain.

Now, I know that Harry Potter is not exactly normal newborn fare. At four months, babies just love being spoken to though – it doesn’t matter to them what words you’re saying – so I killed two birds with one stone. I read my own book and spent quality, constructive time with my babies. As they got older though, books with pictures were definitely in order. Some of our favorites have been:

• Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney
• Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown
• Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
• Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kunhardt
• Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin
• One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss
• Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
• Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin
• Counting Kisses by Karen Katz
• Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? by Dr. Seuss
• Old Hat, New Hat by Stan Berenstain

Most of the books on my list have clear, bright pictures and simple rhyming cadences. They are easy to listen to and easy to read. Reading to babies simply exposes them to more vocabulary than your normal language directed towards them might contain. It exposes them to your voice and gives them your undivided attention. What better gift to give your child? What better way to strengthen the bond between parent and child or grandparent and grandchild?

My husband isn’t a reader. He wasn’t raised in a household where his parents read for pleasure or encouraged their kids to do so. He doesn’t recall going to the library or the bookstore regularly as a child. When our first babies were young, he asked me why I thought my sisters and I loved to read so much and did I think there were things that we could do to encourage that in our own kids.

Yes! Yes! Yes!

Those memories of Friday nights at the library came swimming back. And memories of being read to every night at bedtime. I am sure that I was read to well before my memories reveal. But now, as I read And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street by Dr. Seuss to my children, I grin and remember the fervor with which my own father read it to me. And I hope that my kids in turn crave books like I do and someday read Dr. Seuss to my grandchildren.

Now it’s your turn Womb to Bloom readers! What great books did you read to your babies? What books do you remember as your early childhood favorites? Please share your favorites with us so that the new moms and moms-to-be around here can benefit from all of your great ideas!